


Infinitesimal

by psylocke



Category: Avengers (Comics), Marvel (Comics), Young Avengers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-15 09:55:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5781445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psylocke/pseuds/psylocke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Date night in a pocket universe and absolutely nothing goes wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Infinitesimal

After all these years, Billy’s hand still managed to send sparks up Teddy’s arm. It was a lingering effect, a decade and a half following their first meeting, stemming from a quirk in brain chemistry. He wouldn’t have thought it possible, reasonably or scientifically, had it been happening to anybody but himself, but Teddy Altman knew with certainty that not a day went by in which he wasn’t falling a little bit more in love with his husband. It was difficult not to.

He’d always heard that the initial spark would fade eventually, like it did for so many other people, and so he had spent much of his twenties anticipating it. They had gotten together so young, under extreme circumstance, and their time apart had been fleeting but poignant. There was no guarantee they would last, no promise beyond commitment and effort that they would still be together this long. 

Those were the kinds of thoughts that he knew better than to trouble Billy with. The ones that lingered a moment too long in the back of his head, festering over those hours alone. Not even the looming threat of danger was enough to protect from the stings, constant and damning and relentless. All it took was a smile, or a hug, or the touch of that hand to wash away the doubts — at least for a little while — but he felt no need to question it when all the troubles vanished when they were together.

“I’ve been working on something,” Billy said. Since his ascension to Sorcerer Supreme, he had developed something of a silent entrance, slipping through cracks and shadows before his feet even had time to touch the ground. Teddy could feel the shift in air when he arrived, but it never failed to make his skin prickle when he heard the quiet voice when he knew that nobody else should be around.

It had been some years since the completion of the S.W.O.R.D. Carrier, straddling the edge of the atmosphere and space. It was intended as an early response system, typically unmanned and entirely automated, but the isolation coupled with the view made it the perfect place to catch his breath. Teddy’s fingers ran over the edge of one such computer, the whole of the earth just under his feet, and a small smile crept on his lips. “Work-something?” he asked while turning around. “Or me-something?”

Billy stood some ten feet away. The long, dragging cape behind him was still fluttering from his entrance — Teddy knew better than to ask how he got in without hearing the airlock open. Some things were best left to his imagination. “Both,” was the answer, paired with a few steps forward. “It depends. You can tell me once it’s done.”

“So I actually get to see it?” he asked, quirking a brow and making those final few steps. Their fingers grazed together, not quite catching as they wrapped one another into a tight hug. “You must be proud of it. You never let me see your projects.”

“Most of them could destroy space-time,” Billy joked with a peck on the cheek. “I’m protecting you.”

With a grin, Teddy pulled back and puffed out his chest. “I’m Captain Marvel. I protect the universe.”

“You can barely microwave soup without burning yourself.” The man had a point. “You protect the universe, and I protect you. From yourself. And cats.”

“And cats,” he echoed with a stiff nod. “Still—I get to see it, right?”

Billy’s nod turned him back into a kid on Christmas. It was a better rush than the first time he got to punch Thanos in the jaw. “Actually, if you’re not busy, we could go see it now.” 

Matching his husband’s goofy smile, Billy offered out a hand. He didn’t have to consider his options longer than a second before taking it, that spark flooding through his entire body. Not a second later, the world around them went dark and the residual energy from the aether tingled on his skin. When his vision returned, he took it on blind faith — they were surrounded by nothing but the vacuum that accompanied nothingness. In the distance, a single dot of light flicked in and out of view.

“Welcome to the end of the universe,” Billy said, keeping their hands wrapped together as tightly as he could. “Four thousand light-years beyond it, actually.”

He cracked a crooked smile. “You can’t go past the end of the universe,” he tried to reason.

“I can do anything and everything,” Billy reminded, glancing over out of the corner of his eye. “This is where the multiverse starts and ends. The open and close of dimensional pockets and rifts. It’s the destruction of the universe and it’s beginning.”

“Is this where you’ve been ditching the tuna sandwiches I make you for lunch?”

Billy tutted. “You’re supposed to be in awe right now,” he chided, but couldn’t hide the smile.

“You said you were working on something,” was his counter. “I can’t see anything.”

“Sure you can,” Billy protested, raising his free hand to point at the object in the distance. “That right there.”

“You didn’t make that.”

With a roll of the eyes, Billy dashed forward. Teddy gripped his hand as he was pulled along with him, faster than light — so fast it was as if they weren’t really moving, but with every blink they grew closer and closer to the little rock. It came into view slowly, then all at once, and then vanished once more as he felt dirt beneath his feet. 

He wouldn’t have gone so far as to call it a forest, with strange formations raising from the ground, orange-purple in colour, tethered together so tightly that it resembled vegetation. Billy gave him next to no time to process the information, tugging him through the shrubbery until they reached a nearby clearing. The rock was coloured the similar orange tint, craggy and jagged with holes and craters. “Where are we?” he finally asked.

“Don’t look up,” Billy asked, and without questioning it Teddy obeyed. “Think you can fly us to that mesa?”

Looking to where Billy was gesturing took some looking up, but he figured he could make it without needing to break the request. His hands hoisted around Billy’s waist, wings finally spreading across his back, and they took off into the air. From above, he saw more forests like the one they had landed in, each one located just beyond the thin plains and the deep holes in the crust. The mesa was the only point of elevation he could see in his field of vision, not quite round in shape. Unlike the rest of the planet, it was not dotted with odd vegetation and pockmarked with scars, but perfectly smooth.

“You said I didn’t make it,” Billy said, “but I did. Sort of.” They reached the plateau, and after regaining their bearings, Billy spun around and covered Teddy’s eyes, leading him slowly along the path. “I think I made it — there was nothing here before, and I… willed it into existence.”

The next question, Teddy felt, was obvious. “Why?”

Billy’s hand shifted its position, but never quite gave Teddy his sight back. “I needed somewhere to practice. When you’re the most powerful magic-user on Earth—”

“Since when were you Illyana?”

“Shut up,” he whined, choking back a laugh. “When you’re the second most powerful magic-user on Earth, sometimes you want to blow shit up without, you know… actually blowing shit up.”

“Oh god, did you turn evil?”

“What? No!” Billy’s hand slipped again, this time not bothering to correct it. “Look.”

It took a second to adjust to the light, opening and closing his eyes a few times for good measure. Teddy finally was allowed to look up. The planet’s sky swirled in colour, the product of machinations Teddy couldn’t hope to comprehend, but he saw Billy’s handiwork almost immediately. His mouth fell slightly, stomach slipping just as far. He couldn’t look away, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to do it. 

Billy’s hand squeezed a little tighter. “You like?”

“You moved the stars for me.”

The sky was not entire devoid of stars, but it paled in comparison to the twinkle of earth’s night sky. What few there were had been dragged across space itself, far enough to keep them from collapsing upon each other but close enough to make out the little intricacies of Billy’s handwriting when he played connect-the-dots. Either way, they spelled his name. With enough left over to add a small heart at the end. “I made you a pocket universe,” he whispered. “At least I think so. I haven’t seen anything else for miles. Not—literally. I think we’re alone.”

“It’s beautiful.”

Billy smirked, trying to hide the grin but it tugged too hard at his cheeks. “So are you.”

Just like that, Teddy Altman fell in love all over again.


End file.
